The new rules concerning Russian diamond sanctions are confusing but there is one thing that is certain, these sanctions create a necessity for diamond traceability.
Canadian diamonds hold the distinct advantage of having been sold with origin reports for the last twenty-five years. The new sanction rules will allow Canada to certify origin for its’ own diamond rough locally and, bypass the initial check point in Antwerp.
The Russian sanctions will be initiated in the next few months and Canada is uniquely situated to benefit. Perhaps this is one reason why Burgandy Diamond Mines purchased the Ekati mine from Arctic Canadian in July. It is astonishing that in the last quarter of 2023, when all other diamond mining ventures were losing money with sales down, often over fifty percent, that Burgandy reported “a 37% increase in revenue, a 19% increase in carats recovered, and a 41% increase in carats sold’.
Burgandy CEO Kim Truter said, “Each of our four auctions during the December quarter were oversubscribed due to significant customer demand … This has put us in a strong position with a healthy cash balance to fund the upcoming winter-road, resupply and to commence the important work activities to extend the mine life at Ekati.”
The polished diamond market is expected to improve over the course of 2024 and, I believe the key word for improving diamond sales performance is ‘provenance’. According to the United States Treasury, the coming Russian sanctions will ban “diamonds that (are) mined, extracted, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Russian Federation, notwithstanding whether such diamonds have been substantially transformed [meaning cut and polished] outside of the Russian Federation,” and this explanation opens up a wonderful opportunity for Canadian diamonds.
Regal Imports is the company selling Canadian origin polished diamonds longer than any other company, world-wide. We have helped to shape the market for Canadian diamonds and will soon be dripping news of an expansion delving even further into the realm of natural Canadian diamond polished assets.
I am extending an invitation to all my news followers to watch for new developments on our news channel, website, sign up to our Instagram account or just call us to see and feel the excitement around our push towards complete Canadian provenance and why, especially right now, Canadian origin diamonds will increase jewellery turnover.
I’m excited and, that is why I have dedicated this version of the Regal Imports News to Canadian diamonds; a product that I have sold with pride for over 25 years.
Mel Moss
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